Trader shot dead in Patna

A liquor trader and a political party worker, Yaduvan Prasad Yadav alias Jaddu Gope, (36), was shot dead by two armed criminals near the Government Malaria office at Mahendru under Sultanganj police station on Wednesday morning.

A group of local residents caught two persons while fleeing after the incident. They were brutally assaulted. A police team, however, rescued them. The residents later gheraoed the police station in support of their demand to hand over the suspects to give them instant justice.

Eyewitnesses said that the assailants fired at Gope when he was talking to a man near a milk parlour adjacent to the Malaria office. The firing created panic among the local residents, who ran helter skelter for safety. The marauders fled towards Kali Sthan.

Sources said that the locals caught two persons after a hot chase. They entered a house to protect themselves. However, the residents dragged them out and beat them up black and blue. On getting information, a police team rushed to the spot and rescued the duo from mob fury. The two suspects---Tahil and Shamad---were taken to police station for interrogation.

Agitated over the incident, a large number of residents reached Sultanganj police station and shouted slogans against the police. They were demanding to hand over the suspects to them. They also pelted stones at the police station. However, no one was injured in the brick batting.

Abdul Kalam, father of the suspects, told the police that his sons were innocent and were being falsely implicated in the murder case. Tahil told the police that he was caught by the mob when he was going to his motor garage ‘Naz Motor Garage’ located on the Exhibition Road. “We have nothing to do with the incident,” he said.

Locals said that Gope was running a country-liquor shop in Sultanganj area for the past several years. Earlier, he was an active member of the Congress but he joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal a few months ago.

On-getting information, senior police officials, including City SP Anwar Hussian rushed to the spot with reinforcements. Anti-riot vehicle was also pressed into service. Police used force to disperse the mob that had gheraoed the police station.

Senior Superintendent of police, Amit Kumar said the cause of incident could not be immediately known. “Efforts are on to ascertain whether the two suspects had fired at Gope. It is too early to make any comment on the issue,” he said. The body was later sent to the Patna Medical College and Hospital for autopsy.